30 Days of Lists - My Handmade Notebook

Tomorrow marks the start of September (wait...what?!), but that also means it's 30 Days of Lists time...woo!

This year I've decided to go quite simple with the style of my lists and focus on the listing more than the crafting. I decided to have a go at making my very own notebook to store all of my lists in (and so it's easily transportable!). This little project actually took much longer than I'd expected (mostly due to the time needed to cut all of the pieces of paper to the correct size, get the holes in the right place on each sheet etc) as I lacked some of the tools that would have made it easier.

When I say tools - I'm talking about something as simple as a ruler, which the stationary gremlins in my house had apparently stolen.

I'm still really happy with the results though. I just got lots of sheets of (mostly) plain paper in a range of colours and cut them to the same size. I then hole punched each sheet 7 times, scored about 1/2 inch from the edge and then bound them together with embroidery thread.

I used this video to help me with the binding, but it was really simple. I finished mine slightly different as I wanted a loose bow of thread to one side of the notebook:




This is a fun little project if you have some paper lying around which you aren't sure what to do with and is somehow more special than going out and buying a notebook (I say that as someone who loves pretty notebooks, especially those from Paperchase).

I just added some pretty paper to the front with double sided tape and labelled it for 30 Days of Lists! Now it's all ready for the listing fun to begin tomorrow....

TFI Friday

It's Friday lovely people!

I've had a really lovely week as I've been on leave from work and have used it to recharge and re-organise (my house was a mess!). I still have one room left to tackle. Sadly it's the worst room - the spare room aka the 'I don't know where this random object should live and I'll therefore put it there' room.

It's also the home of my craft supplies *cue dramatic music*.

Anyway - that one tiny job aside, I feel like I've achieved a lot and feel rested. Here are a few of my favourite things from this week...

Mumford & Sons new video for 'Hopeless Wanderer' which I think I've watched on a daily basis for about 2 weeks! When you take my favourite band and then add some of my favourite comedic actors (Jason Sudekis <3) you get a video which brings the biggest smile to my face each and every time.




Bumblebees! They seem to everywhere at the moment and I love watching them fly from flower to flower with their adorable fuzziness. The only problem is that my phone seems to be getting filled with photos of them on flowers as I can't resist a quick snap when I see one (like this one...)!

I've finished watching my way through 'Orange is the New Black' - a Netflix original series, and really enjoyed (almost) every minute - great characters and acting, and I'm really interested to read the memoirs of the woman the show is based on (although appreciate the show has been dramatised!)

And last (but by no means least) I've loved spending some quiet time with these two...after observing their daily routines of sleeping, eating and playing I think that the life of a cat would suit be just fine (apart from the washing...ugh)...

Oh..and I've been loving playing around with the Beautiful Mess photo app - the little doodles are too cute.

Hope you had a good week and a lovely weekend ahead.

xx

Tutorial Tried and Tested - Crochet Bath Puff

I'm still in love with the craft of crochet and trying out new ideas and tutorials all of the time. When I saw this tutorial for a bath puff on Bianchi's Barn here : http://www.bianchisbarn.com/2013/03/12/easy-crochet-bath-puff-pouf-pattern/

I knew I had to have a go at making one (I never like the feel of the shops bought plastic ones). 

The tutorial is really easy to follow with just a basic knowledge of crochet. I used Sugar n Cream yarn, which has the perfect thickness for this kind of project, and I'm so happy with the result...

 I've made a couple more of these as presents - team them up with some lovely handmade soap and you have a thoughtful but cost effective (and fairly speedy gift). It only took me an evening to make one bath puff and its a lovely relaxing project which isn't too taxing on tired brains. I can really highly recommend this tutorial, so if you need more crochet in your bathtub check it out!

I'm on the look put for more simple crochet gift ideas so if you have any I'd love to know (how is it possible that Christmas is fast approaching...eep!).

Xx

Getting Focused

It's a bit of an understatement to say that I've needed to improve my focus in recent months. In general I'm trying to do too much at any given time, without managing to do anything very well.

I'm happy to say that this is starting to improve. I'm tackling projects around the home one at a time, balancing my home and working life and prioritising what's important.

I still need a bit of help getting my creative side a bit more focused though. I have about 1000 ideas floating around my head - but I'm achieving nothing (does this ever happen to anyone else?). To help with this I've signed up to 2 projects starting in September which I'm really looking forward to. 

The first is 30 Days of Lists.

I love this project so much (for I am, indeed, a list-o-holic). The organisers give you a daily prompt of a list to write, and the lists are based around all different kinds of themes. I love taking part in this because as well as meaning I get my list-fix, it also gets me writing - however short that writing may be. From past experience, the community surrounding this is very lovely and it's a lot of fun reading other people's lists (which you can post in their Flickr group or on a private forum). If you'd like a few more lists in your life you can find out more about signing up here: http://30daysoflists.com/ (there is a fee of $10 to sign up and access the resources).

The other project is the Wild Olive Autumn Stitch Club, organised by Mollie Johanson. 

This is an incredibly cute project and involves weekly miniature embroidery designs in Mollie's adorable style, which you stitch on fabric which you then turn into little hexagons. You then make some hexagons of some favourite materials and stitch it together to make a mini quilt of prettiness. I love autumn, I really want to get back to doing some embroidery and I need to get over my fear of the sewing machine - so this project is just about perfect for me! 

I can't wait to get started -  I've already received some helpful instructions (I've never attempted quilting before so this is a mini challenge for me!) and I'm planning to make some hexagons this weekend. The club runs from September to the end of November. If you sign up before September 2nd the fee is just $5, and you can find out more here: http://wildolive.blogspot.co.uk/p/autumn-stitching-club-by-wildolive-on.html

I'll share my progress with these projects on here to keep me on track. If you sign up for these, or know of anything similar I'd love to hear about it!